After nearly 10 years in a retail environment, Tony Rhodes speaks about the transition and what he's learned
After nearly a decade entrenched in the systems-heavy world of retail mortgage, Tony Rhodes made the leap from retail to brokerage - a move that more and more originators are contemplating.
For those thinking of going over, Rhodes has simple advice: “If you're going to make the switch, you just gotta go all in. I think it's the biggest thing,” he said, adding that, “It's kind of like when you leave, you graduate with your Ph.D. in mortgages - a lot of good training, a lot of good resources.”
Using that training he acquired in retail has translated into brokerage. “The biggest thing is being committed to the game and what it boils down to,” he said. “A lot of guys probably left because it's not always easy. It's hard. You gotta take calls at weird times. You gotta make calls at hard times. You gotta be available, and you gotta do the little stuff. So that's probably the biggest thing: just do your job.”
“Do your job” might sound simplistic, but in an industry where response time often beats rate sheets, Rhodes’ reminder hits hard. There’s nothing revolutionary about answering your phone at 8 p.m. or replying to emails on a Sunday—but there’s nothing replaceable about it, either.
This work ethic doesn’t come from nowhere. Nine-and-a-half years in retail left their mark. That tenure—while maybe longer than he’d recommend—gave Rhodes a playbook.
Now, in a brokerage environment with more volatility and fewer guardrails, Rhodes is leaning on the fundamentals. That starts with availability and ends with accountability. For him, it also means staying connected—to the market, to his peers, and to the industry at large.
The rigidity of a retail environment, however structured and predictable, had run its course. The allure of brokerage wasn’t just the family connection—it was the breathing room, the autonomy, and perhaps most of all, the ability to adapt to market shifts with less friction.
His advice is less about mechanics and more about mindset. The retail model, for all its systems and support, instills a sense of procedure. On the broker side, that structure fades. The pace quickens, the rules shift, and the safety net shrinks.
Rhodes, now an executive loan officer with Zoom Home Lending, is seeing encouraging signals in the market—though not necessarily where people expect. While headlines continue to revolve around stagnating purchase demand and stubbornly high interest rates, refinances are quietly making a comeback. “Over the last two, three years, you see people still in higher 7% rates,” he said. “So, we're pretty busy with the rebuys right now.”
He’s seeing what the broader industry is only starting to pick up on: refinances aren’t dead—they’re delayed. And as consumers recalibrate from the shock of 2022’s spikes, that hesitation is beginning to fade.
“I’ve been noticing that there’s a lot more demand now than there was last year,” Rhodes said. “However, the rate is pretty similar—you know, 6.6 to 6.7 [percent],” Rhodes said.
The numbers support him. Between 2024 and 2025, some 30,000 originators exited the space. That shrinking workforce, paired with an uptick in projected volume, creates a vacuum—one brokers are well-positioned to fill.
